JPH027532Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to an endoscope used for ultrasonic diagnosis inside a body cavity.

2. Description of the Related Art Devices that perform diagnosis by emitting ultrasound beams toward a subject and receiving ultrasound reflected from the subject's body are widely known. Recently, a technique has been developed to directly diagnose the inside of a body cavity with ultrasound by installing the head of this ultrasound diagnostic apparatus on an endoscope.

A conventional endoscope used for ultrasonic diagnosis is configured as follows, for example. That is, an operating section is fixed to the base end of the insertion section, and a distal end section provided with an illumination window and an observation window is fixed to the distal end of the insertion section. A single ultrasonic conductor is inserted through the tip, insertion section, and operation section. An ultrasonic head is attached to one end of the ultrasonic conductor that protrudes from the tip, and an ultrasonic operating section is attached to the other end that protrudes from the operating section. Then, by operating this ultrasound operation part, the probe is moved along the axis direction, rotated, and the head side portion of the probe is curved to bring the head into contact with the organ, and in this state, the ultrasound Sound waves are now being used for diagnosis. This operation is performed while observing through the observation window at the tip.

However, in the above-mentioned endoscopes, the field of view from the observation window is fixed, so the organs and head may fall out of the field of view or become difficult to see, and the head cannot reliably contact the organs, making it difficult to see the organs and the head. There was a drawback that interfered with sonic diagnosis. In addition, with this configuration, by grasping the operation part and rotating the distal end and the insertion part together, you can change the field of view and observe the head and organs in a state where it is easy to see. The parts rubbed against the inner walls of the body cavity, causing great pain to the patient.

The present invention was developed based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to use ultrasonic waves that can adjust the field of view from the observation window so that the ultrasound head and organs can be easily seen without causing pain to the patient. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a diagnostic endoscope.

In order to achieve the above object, the endoscope of the present invention has a distal end portion provided with an observation window that is rotatable relative to the insertion portion.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a flexible insertion section, and an operating section 2 is attached to the base end thereof. A distal end portion 3 is rotatably attached to the distal end of the insertion portion 1 via a bearing 4. In addition, insertion part 1
A curved portion 5 is formed in the vicinity of the tip portion 3 . This bending portion 5 is bent by rotating a bending operation knob 6 of the operating portion 1 via a wire (not shown). Since the configurations of the insertion section 1 and the bending section 5 are well known, their explanation will be omitted. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the distal end of the insertion portion 1 is formed of a rigid member in order to receive the bearing 4.

The end surface of the tip portion 3 consists of two inclined surfaces 3a and 3b having mutually different inclination angles. An illumination window 7 is installed on the gentle slope 3a, and an observation window 8 is installed on the steep slope 3b. These illumination window 7 and observation window 8 are arranged at positions eccentric from the center of rotation of the distal end portion 3 . lighting window 7
One end of the optical transmission fiber bundle 11 is placed near the. One end of an image transmission fiber bundle 12 is placed near the observation window 8 via a prism 9 and an objective lens 10 . The optical transmission fiber bundle 11 includes an insertion section 1 and an operation section 2.
The operating section 2 is connected to a light source device 14 via a cable 13 connected thereto. The image transmission fiber bundle 12 includes an insertion section 1 and an operation section 2.
And through the cylinder 15 connected to this operating part 2,
It extends to an eyepiece section 17 having an eyepiece lens 16.

A rotation tube 20 is rotatably inserted into the center of the insertion section 1 and the operation section 2 . The rotating tube 20 is flexible and has sufficient rigidity against torsional forces. A gap 21 is formed between the rotation tube 20 and the insertion section 1, and the above-mentioned fiber bundle 1 is placed within this gap 21.
1, 12, etc. are inserted. The tip portion 3 is connected to one end of the rotation tube 20. Rotating tube 20
A rotation operation knob 22 (rotation operation section) is connected to the other end. This rotary operation knob 22 is rotatably supported by a housing 2a that constitutes the outer shell of the operation section 2 via a bearing 23. The rotation operation knob 22 protrudes from the operation section 2 to the outside.
Protrusions 24 and 25 are provided on the outer peripheral surfaces of the rotation operation knob 22 and the housing 2a. Protrusion 24
The rotation angle of the rotation operation knob 22 can be determined from the relative position of the rotation operation knob 22 with respect to the protrusion 25. In the operation section 2, a projection 26 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the rotation tube 20.
6 hits a stopper 27 protruding from the inner circumferential surface of the housing 2a, so that the rotating tube 20 is restricted from rotating more than one rotation.

A single ultrasonic conductor 30 is inserted through the rotational center of the distal end portion 3, the rotational tube 20, and the rotational operation knob 22 so as to be rotatable and movable in the axial direction. There is. One end of the ultrasound conductor 30 protrudes from the tip 3, and an ultrasound head 31 is attached to this end.
is installed. This ultrasonic head 31 is provided with an element 32 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a mark 31a is provided on the outer surface of the head 31 at a position facing the element 32. As shown in FIGS. The other end of the ultrasound conductor 30 protrudes from the rotation operation knob 22, and an ultrasound operation section 33 is attached to this other end. This ultrasound operating section 33 is provided with a knob 34, and by operating this knob 34, a portion 30a of the ultrasound guide 30 adjacent to the head 31 is curved. This ultrasound operating section 33 is connected to an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus main body 36 via an electric cable 35.

In the above configuration, the insertion section 1 is inserted into the body cavity. Light from the light source device 14 is irradiated into the body cavity through the illumination window 7 via the light transmission fiber bundle 11. On the other hand, the inside of the body cavity is observed through the observation window 8 through the image transmission fiber bundle 12 through the eyepiece 17. While illuminating the inside of the body cavity through the illumination window 7 and observing through the observation window 8 in this manner, the ultrasound operation section 33 is operated to bring the element 32 of the head 31 into close contact with the organ A. That is, by rotating the knob 34, the part 30a of the ultrasound guide 30 is curved, and by grasping the entire ultrasound operation section 33, the guide 30 is rotated around the central axis of the insertion section 1, By moving the head 31 in this direction, the head 31 is moved to the organ A and brought into close contact with the organ A.

Incidentally, the directions of the illumination range B from the illumination window 7 and the viewing range C from the observation window 8 can be changed depending on the positions of the organ A and the head 31. That is, by rotating the rotation operation knob 22, the distal end portion 3 is rotated via the rotation tube 20. As a result,
The directions of the illumination range B and viewing range C can be changed. Therefore, organ A and the ultrasound head 31
can be captured in the viewing range C, which is always easy to observe. For example, in FIGS. 2 and 3, the insertion section 1
The position of organ A is different from that of organ A.
Although the way the head 31 contacts is different,
In both cases, the optimum observation state can be obtained by rotating the tip portion 3. That is, if the tip 3 is fixed in the state shown in FIG. 2, the ultrasonic head 31 is in the state shown in FIG.
It is not possible to observe the state of contact between the body and organ A. In this respect, in the endoscope of this invention, the distal end 3 is rotatable, and the observation window 8 is
Since it is provided at a location eccentric from the rotation center of the observation window 8, by rotating the tip 3, the observation window 8
The observable field of view can be greatly changed, thereby ensuring optimal observation conditions at all times.

Furthermore, when the tip 3 is rotated, the ultrasonic conductor 30 is inserted through the center of rotation of the tip 3, so the rotation of the tip 3 causes the ultrasound conductor 30 to move. I never get caught. Therefore, as the ultrasound guide 30 moves, the ultrasound head 31 and the organ A
It is possible to prevent the contact state from changing. Note that the rotational position of the distal end portion 3 differs by 180 degrees between the case of FIG. 2 and the case of FIG. 3. In the state shown in FIG. 2, the eyepiece 17 can be observed as shown in FIG.
It can be confirmed that 2 is in close contact with organ A. Similarly, the state shown in FIG. 3 can be observed as shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 2, the fiber bundles 11 and 12 are in a substantially straight state within the insertion portion 1, but in FIG. 3, they are twisted by 180 degrees. Note that the protrusion 26 of the rotation tube 20 is the stopper 27.
Since the rotating tube 20 is restricted from rotating more than once during the rotation, the fiber bundles 11, 1
It is possible to prevent the occurrence of wire breakage due to excessive twisting.

After confirming that the element 32 of the head 31 is in close contact with the organ A as described above, transmitting ultrasonic waves,
The information is sent to the ultrasound diagnostic equipment main body 3.
6, and here the inside of organ A is visualized.

As explained above, in the ultrasonic diagnostic endoscope of the present invention, by rotating the tip, the field of view from the observation window can be changed depending on the position of the organ and the ultrasonic head. Therefore, since the ultrasonic head can be observed in the optimum visual field and the head can be brought into reliable contact with the organ, ultrasonic diagnosis can be performed accurately. In addition, in this case, since the ultrasonic conductor is rotatably inserted through the center of rotation of the tip, the ultrasonic conductor is not moved by the rotation of the tip, and the ultrasonic head is does not affect the contact status of the Moreover, since only the distal end portion rotates and the insertion portion does not rotate, there is no pain to the patient.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an endoscope for ultrasonic diagnosis, FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views showing different rotational states of the tip, and FIG.
5 and 5 are diagrams showing observation results obtained at the eyepiece section in the states shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively. 1...Insertion section, 2...Operation section, 3...Tip section,
7...Illumination window, 8...Observation window, 20...Rotating tube,
22... Rotation operation knob (rotation operation section), 30...
Ultrasonic conductor, 31...head, 33...ultrasonic operation unit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (a) an insertion section; (b) an operating section attached to the proximal end of the insertion section; (d) a distal end with an observation window formed at an eccentric location;
a rotating tube having one end connected to the rotating center of the tip and a rotating operation section provided at the other end; (f) an ultrasonic conductor whose one end axially movably and rotatably passes through the rotational center of the tip and whose other end passes through the operating section; (f) the tip of the ultrasonic conductor; and (g) an ultrasonic operating section attached to the other end of the ultrasonic transducer projecting from the operating section. Diagnostic endoscope.